


come and go

by theredtailedhawkwithjewelsforeyes



Series: highs and lows [3]
Category: The Witcher (TV), Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types
Genre: M/M, backstory! memories! realizations! oh my, hanging out with immortals when youre human, yen and jaskier friendship. i dont care
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-11
Updated: 2020-02-11
Packaged: 2021-02-28 06:07:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 879
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22659037
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theredtailedhawkwithjewelsforeyes/pseuds/theredtailedhawkwithjewelsforeyes
Summary: When Jaskier was a little boy, barefoot in the streets, there was a shop. In that shop was the prettiest woman in the whole wide world.
Relationships: Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia/Jaskier | Dandelion
Series: highs and lows [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1623901
Comments: 38
Kudos: 627
Collections: GERALT AND JASKIER ARE FUCKING GAY





	come and go

**Author's Note:**

> me to me: dont name this come and go. thats stupid  
> me to me: fuck you

When Jaskier was a little boy, barefoot on the streets, there was a shop. In that shop was the prettiest woman in the whole wide world.

She had long dark hair and purple eyes, and she always dressed in black silk and lace. Jaskier remembers the jealousy and the envy and the longing he’d felt, standing on tiptoe to see through her window. She sold potions and pretty crystals and makeup, things people could buy if they were rich and had money to spare.

Jaskier had tried to steal, once. He’d snuck in, lute hidden carefully behind his back, and gone straight for a little pink bottle that almost glowed. But then she’d been right there, looking at him half-sympathetically. The curl of a painted lip. 

“Not yet, darling,” she’d said, putting a hand on his head to lead him out. “You’ll find your way back.” 

Witches are always cryptic. He’d believed her anyway, tucked up deep in his heart- witches are cryptic but he’ll find his way back. 

-

Memories are hazy things. They’re half there when he reaches for them. When Jaskier looks at Yennefer- he’s grown up, now, twenty five years old- he remembers a little pink bottle. He doesn’t remember why. 

There is a certain aura about her that makes him feel like a child again, but he pins that on her immortality. It’s hard to feel adult around people three times your age, after all. 

Still: 

Yennefer speaks, and he doesn’t like her but he can’t help but perk up his ears and listen. He looks at her and sees a little pink bottle. His feet are cold and bare in his fancy leather boots. She heals his throat, threatens him, fucks Geralt, and then they’re gone, just the faintest idea of something he’d forgotten tingling in the back of his throat. 

He’ll find his way back. Not  _ yet _ , darling. 

When Jaskier was a little boy, barefoot in the streets, there was a shop. In that shop was the prettiest woman in the whole wide world. 

Now, remembering- peering in through a window. The jealousy, hot and thick in his mouth; he wanted to be beautiful too. Beauty is power and power is everything. He is a silk bird now but then the soles of his feet were hard and muddy. 

Peering in through a window. The witch with purple eyes and dark hair. He’s almost angry when he realizes, stopped halfway in the door of Yennefer’s shop over a decade later. 

“You’re fucking  _ kidding _ ,” he hisses, under his breath. Half a sigh, because he knows destiny likes to fuck around but he’s more interested in writing about it than living it. 

“What?” says Geralt- by now he must be used to Jaskier being yanked around by memories in this place, but he’s been very patient with it. They’re resting, here, and he’d wanted to visit a witch. 

“When I was-” Jaskier starts, and then Yennefer comes sweeping out. She pauses when she sees him, sharp eyes taking in the lute half hidden behind his back and the bare feet, and then she laughs. 

“You really did find your way back here!” 

“There’s a childhood memory ruined,” he says, a little grumpily. “Did you-” 

“Yes, bard, I looked into your lovely eyes and remembered a street rat from fifteen years ago.” She beckons them both in with a dry look- Geralt looks a little put out that the attention is not on him, so Jaskier gives him a little shoulder bump. 

“I tried to steal from her when I was eleven.” 

The Witcher gives him a look, all raised eyebrows. Yennefer laughs, brighter than she usually is around the two of them. 

“Scrawny little thing you were, too. All bones. You should’ve seen him, Geralt, out on the corner every day singing away- for a bit. Then you rose up, didn’t you?” 

Jaskier puffs up a little, smoothing the fine cloth of his doublet. “Yeah, I did. Gods, I forget how  _ old _ you lot are,” he adds, wrinkling his nose.

“I forget how young you are,” Geralt rumbles, unexpectedly. Jaskier glances over at him, and there’s a thoughtful look in those golden eyes that he’s not used to seeing. The Witcher is very much of the mentality kill, fuck, eat, sleep- not that it’s a slight against him. He just prefers to be simple. 

“So what are you doing in Vengerberg?” Yen asks, gesturing with a lazy hand to some carved wooden chairs. “Catching up?” 

“I think we were just passing through,” Jaskier says, shrugging. “Then-” 

“He decided to take a trip down memory lane,” Geralt fills in, sounding unimpressed. Still- if he didn’t want to be here, he would’ve left. 

“We’ll be leaving soon,” finishes Jaskier. 

When Jaskier was a little boy, barefoot in the streets, there was a shop. In that shop was the prettiest woman in the whole wide world. He’d wanted to be her more than anything, because she was beautiful and beauty is power and power is everything, and now she sits in front of him. He’s taller than her, now, and the realization makes him feel strange. 

She’s just the same. He’s changed so much. When he’s gone, she’ll still be here. 

There’s a song in that, he thinks. 

**Author's Note:**

> im sorry i just rlly wanted to get smth out today.... burnout is real but the idea of not posting every day makes me feel sick to my stomach because Thats Where My Value Is lskjflksjdflsdjkf . this is really short 
> 
> love yall


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